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Friday, April 20, 2012

Recipe for Sauteed Asparagus with Melted Gorgonzola and Pine Nuts

(For Phase One Fridays I highlight Phase One recipes from the past that have been my personal favorites. This recipe was first posted in 2006 as part of Asparagus Aspirations at Seriously Good, sponsored by blogger Kevin Weeks. Kevin passed away last week, and I'm dedicating this recipe to his memory. His insight and cooking expertise were something he shared freely with many people, and he will be greatly missed.)

When I first made this recipe in 2006, I said "At the risk of sounding like I'm completely lacking in modesty, let me say that this was one of the best tasting things I've ever eaten in my life!" Now years later this is still one of my favorite ways to cook asparagus, even after I lightened it up a tiny bit from the original recipe. I'm still on a bit of an asparagus binge around here, and when I made this to take new photos I ate about half of it for lunch that day. You can see the original picture after the step-by-step photos, and if you're joining my asparagus binge you'll find lots more ideas for cooking asparagus after the recipe.

Crumble the gorgonzola cheese so you'll have it ready to add immediately as soon as the asparagus is cooked. (I used 1/4 cup cheese, which is 1 T per serving. Gorgonzola has 8 grams fat per ounce, which is lower than some types of blue cheese, but it should be used in moderation if you're making this for the South Beach Diet.)

Cut the asparagus into pieces about 2 inches long. (I'm compulsive about cutting them on the diagonal so they look prettier!)

Slice up 4 large cloves of garlic. (Don't use garlic from a jar for this recipe.)

Heat the olive oil, then add the garlic and saute about 1 minute, or just until you start to smell garlic. (Don't brown the garlic or it will give the oil a bitter flavor.)

Add asparagus to the pan and saute about 5 minutes, just until it's barely starting to soften. I turned it several times while it was cooking.

While the asparagus cooks, toast the pine nuts in a dry pan for 1-2 minutes, just until they barely start to turn brown.

When asparagus is done, turn off the heat and sprinkle cheese over and let it melt about 1 minutes.

Quickly put the asparagus on a serving plate, sprinkle with pine nuts, and serve hot.

And as promised, here is the original photo of this from back in 2006!

Sauteed Asparagus with Melted Gorgonzola and Pine Nuts
(Makes 4 servings, recipe created by Kalyn with inspiration from many other asparagus recipes)

Snap off a piece of asparagus to see where to cut off the tough ends, then trim all asparagus to that length and cut into pieces about 2 inches long. (If you don't have thin spears, I recommend peeling the lower part of each spear with a vegetable peeler. I like to cut it on a diagonal so it looks prettier.)

Put olive oil into large frying pan, turn heat to medium, add garlic and saute about 1 minute, or until you start to smell garlic and the cloves are barely starting to get some color. (Do not let it brown or it will make your oil taste bitter rather than delightfully garlicy.) Take pan off of heat and remove garlic and discard.

Put pan back on heat, add asparagus, and saute about 5 minutes, turning frequently, until asparagus is barely starting to soften and brown slightly. Timing will depend completely on how hot your stove burner is, but I cooked mine exactly 5 minutes and it was perfect.

When asparagus is done, turn off heat and sprinkle crumbled Gorgonzola over asparagus in pan. Let sit one minute, until about half of the cheese is starting to melt and the rest is still in firm pieces. Plate asparagus and sprinkle with pine nuts. Season with salt and fresh ground black pepper as desired: I didn't use any salt and I didn't think it needed it. Serve hot.

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not only does this look delicious it is delicious.........I tried it shorty after you it came up on Asparagus Aspirations!!! I must admit here in Florida asparagus was long gone.........but ours is now coming from Peru of all places and I must admit not bad. But I will make this dish often...thanks kalyn

I made this for dinner tonight and I must say it is the most delicious asparagus I've ever eaten. Thank you!I found your site through googling "south beach diet friendly recipes" I can't wait to try more of your recipes.

OK I just found your site and it's great, I just started the south beach diet on Monday so I am in phase 1. I didn't know you could eat gorgonzola, so thankyou for that. Also, Giada D. (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/everyday-italian/baked-artichokes-with-gorgonzola-and-herbs-recipe/index.html) has a recipe for artichokes with melted gorgonzola that might be good, haven't tried it yet, (the bread crumbs and cream might need to be substituted) but now I will. Thanks!

Hi Tim,This recipe fits very well with the emphasis on low-glycemic foods that is the foundation of South Beach, but it might be a little high in saturated fat. Now you have me wishing I was home so I could look up gorgonzola to make sure it really is okay! I'm thinking it might be what I call a "once in a while treat" for South Beach. Look for the lowest fat gorgonzola you can find and it should be fine.

Hi Tim, me again. I followed a link in this recipe and remembered I found some crumbled gorgonzola at Costco that only had 8 grams of fat in 1/4 cup, which should be great for South Beach. Look for something like that if you can.

Kayln, Thank you so much for this site, it is one of the very best out there. I love your enthusiasm, creativity, and inspiration. I am eating this asparagus dish as I type and all I can say is "OH MY" it is out of this world! I have made it several times and I seriously doubt that I will ever eat asparagus any other way!

This looks really delicious! I'm definitely going to try this out. We're hosting an online seasonal potluck and May is asparagus month. If you'd like to link your recipe, we'd love to have you!http://bit.ly/eLlgG2

My teenagers were cringing at the cheese sitting on the counter waiting to be sprinkled on the asparagus. Turns out they absolutely LOVED the recipe. Both said it's a keeper! I used almonds instead of pine nuts just because that's what I had on hand. Thanks for another super SB recipe!

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